8 Rivers o f Marocco. Farther to the south is another riv e r called Wed Tamaract; and about sixteen or seventeen miles south- o f that place, and about six south o f Agadeer, or Santa C r u z ,* the majestic River Suse discharges itself into the ocean. This fine river rises at Ras-el-Wed, at the foot o f A tlas, about thirty miles- from the city o f Terodant. T he (fulahs) cultivators o f land, and the gardeners o f Suse have drained o ff this riv e r so much in its passage through the plains o f Howara and Exima, that it is fordable at its mouth at low water in the summer, so that camels* and other animals are enabled to cross it with burthens on their backs: at its mouth is a ba r o f sand which at low water almost separates it from the ocean. The banks of this river are inundated in winter, but in summer are variegated with Indian corn, wheat, barley, pasture lands, beautiful gardens,, and productive orchards. Either this river, or that o f Messa, must have been the Una ofPtolomy, which is placed in lat. 28 30' N. W e may presume that the Suse was anciently navigable as far as Terodant, as there are still in the walls o f the castle o f * Leo Africanus, who undoubtedly has given us the best description of Africa, commits an error, however, in describing this river. “ The great river of Sus, flowing out of the mountains of Atlas, that separate the two provinces of Hea “ and Sus (Haha and Suse) in sunder, runneth southward among the said nioun- “ tains, stretching unto the fields of the foresaid region, and from thence tending “ westward unto a place called Guartguessen, -f where it dischargeth itself.into “ the main ocean.” See 9th book of Leo Africanus. The Cape de Geer was formerly the separation of the provinces of Haha and Suse, but now the river of- Tam aract may be called the boundary, which is fifteen miles to the northward of the mouth of the river Suse; and Guartguessen, or Agadeer, or Santa Cruz, is six miles north of the river Suse. Had I not resided three years at Santa Cruz, in sight of the river Suse, which I have repeatedly forded in various parts, I should not have presumed to dispute Leo's assertion. . f The ancient name of Agadeer or Santa Cruz in Leo’s time. Rivers o f Marocco. 9 that city immense large iron rings, such as we see in maritime towns in Europe, for the purpose o f m ooring ships. Draha.— T he riv e r o f this name flows from the north-east o f A tla s to the south, and passing through the p ro vin ce o f Draha, it disappears in the absorbing sands o f Sahara. A great part o f the country through which it passes being a saline earth, its waters ha ve a brackish taste, like most o f the rivers proceeding from Atlas, which take their course eastward. It is small in summer, but impetuous and impassable in winter, o r at least during L iali. It is not improbable that this riv e r formerly continued its course westward, discharging its e lf into the ocean at Wednoon, and called b y the ancients D a ro d u s ; but it often happens in A fr ica , particularly on the confines o f any desert country, that the course o f rivers is not on ly changed b y the moveable hills o f d ry sand, but sometimes absorbed altogether, as is now the case with the Draha, after its entrance into the Desert. River o f Messa, called W ed Messa, flows from A t la s ; it- is, as before observed, a separate stream from the riv e r Suse, and is drained o ff b y the (fulah) cultivators or farmers during its passage. It was navigated b y the Portugueze before the y abandoned this place for the New W o r ld . Leo Africanus has committed another error (which has been copied b y modern w r iters, * in calling the r iv e r o f Messa the r iv e r S u s e .f which I ascertained to be quite a different stream when I was at Messa, and th ir ty miles distant from the former, though the y both flow from E. to W . A bar o f sand separates this riv e r en tire ly at * Vide Brooks’s Gazeteer, 12th edition, title Messa. t Through the three small towns of Messa runneth a certain great river called Sus. Vide Leo Africanus, 2d book, title Town of Messa. C
27f 39
To see the actual publication please follow the link above